Looking Beyond Labels
by Harrison Black Peverall
Summary: An evening spent brooding at the Hogwarts Grounds near the Shrieking Shack gives unexpected surprises for Harry as he somehow ends up getting a new friend who manages to lift up his spirits and change his entire world view. Read this story of a Darker, Rebellious and more powerful and intelligent Harry who won't rest in peace until Voldemort and his deatheaters are eliminated.HP/DG
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and I don't intend to earn any monetary profit out of this story.**

 **Author's Note: This story begins at the middle of Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, after the Christmas break. The pairing will be Harry/Daphne and the story will be AU.**

 **Warnings:**

 **There might be mild Ron, Ginny, McGonagall and Dumbledore bashing (but not too severe and unrealistic. They will still be okay people and not as bad as the deatheaters)**

 **Heavy bashing of Severus Snape (but still he will be on the light side)**

 **Some added surprises which will deviate from canon (for Harry's first 5 years at Hogwarts)**

 **Smart, logical, rebellious, belligerent, dark(but not evil), cooler and powerful Harry**

 **This story might contain swear words and scenes of gore, violence and other adult content. So, not suitable for children and immature adults.**

Harry was sitting morosely near the black lake staring at its depths. He was remembering the wonderful times that he had spent with his amazing Godfather. Sirius's loss still stung him deeply. As he was about to head back to the castle, he heard voices from nearby. He noted that they were coming from the shrieking shack. He was curious. Ever since Remus Lupin had resigned from his post during his 3rd year, nobody used the Shrieking Shack anymore. So, who could be there right now? Curiosity overcame him and He put on his invisibility cloak and started heading in the direction of the Shrieking shack, keeping his wand out.

Soon, he reached the whomping willow and using his wand, levitated a twig to touch that appropriate spot to make the tree still. Then slowly, he moved forward and reached the tunnel where he had to bend down and crawl all the way till he reached the inside of the shack. As soon as he reached inside, he put his cloak on and whispered a spell to mask the sound of his footsteps. Then, he slowly inched towards the door which was locked and peered inside through the key hole. What he saw shocked him to the core.

Three Slytherin boys Miles Bletchley, Blaise Zabini and Adrian Pucey had cornered a Slytherin girl who was lying helplessly on the floor, her wand lying a few feet away. Harry knew who this girl was. After all, who didn't know the famous Ice Queen of Slytherin, Daphne Greengrass who was notoriously infamous for castrating anyone who even dared to glance at her in a wrong way. He had heard tales about her exploits from Fred and George who had narrowly escaped from her infamous freezing bits curse when both of them had tried to prank her. But Harry was surprised to see her glaring at her 3 assailants with a killing gaze. He had never seen Slytherins displaying such open animosity with each other.

"Greengrass, it is time to teach you a lesson. You should not have stopped us from teaching your sister Astoria not to associate with mudbloods and blood traitors. It was bad enough that she got sorted into Hufflepuff, but now she is openly mingling with mudbloods and Blood traitors from her house. She is shaming your noble house of Greengrass. And you are not doing anything about it. When we started persuading her to change her ways, you dared to raise your wand against us and cast your freezing bits curse on us. The three of us are impotent because of you" growled Blaise, remembering the three weeks that he had spent in the hospital wing recovering from that infernal curse. It was a massive shock to the three of them when Madam Pomphrey had informed them that they will never be able to become fathers again.

Daphne snarled menancingly and replied "The three of you dared to manhandle and bully my sister and you call that persuasion? My sister cried on my lap for the whole night after the three of you insulted and cursed her badly. I don't care if Tori mingles with her friends in Hufflepuff. We don't give a damn about your blood bigotry and this so called nobility".

Daphne's words infuriated the three of them and Pucey raised her wand at her and growled "Crucio". Daphne screamed loudly in pain and the other two boys were enjoying her screams. None of them noticed the door opening for a few seconds and then closing.

Pucey stopped the curse and Daphne stopped screaming, though she was still twitching badly owing to the after effects of this curse.

"That hurt, didn't it Greengrass?" said Pucey maliciously, while Greengrass whimpered in pain.

"And don't bother complaining to anyone about us using an unforgivable. A good friend of ours in Knockturn alley has placed a trace-free charm on our wands. So, you won't be able to prove anything" said Bletchley grinning maniacally at her.

"Hey guys, why don't we contact Fenrir Greyback? We can give her as a gift to him" said Blaise with a sadistic grin.

"That's a great idea Zabini. I am sure he would be…" but before Pucey could finish that sentence, he was hit on his face by a jet of red light, which seemed to come out of nowhere. Pucey fell down unconscious.

Blaise and Bletchley looked around in panic to see who had stunned their friend. They didn't see twin jets of red light strike them from their back. Daphne watched in confusion as her three tormentors were bound with ropes after they fell down unconscious.

She looked around to see who had rescued her. She couldn't see or hear anyone, except for a slight flapping of some cloak.

"Who is it?" asked Daphne nervously. She had heard rumours that the shrieking shack was haunted and didn't fancy the prospect of experiencing any sort of horror after being tortured by cruciatus curse.

Harry slowly removed his cloak revealing his face. Daphne's eyes widened on seeing him.

"Potter ? What are you doing here?" asked Daphne surprised.

"Well, I heard voices from the shrieking shack and I thought of investigating what was going on. Because, nobody usually comes here. But when I came here, I saw them torturing you and I couldn't stand that. I will make sure that they are expelled for this" said Potter defiantly.

To his immense surprise, the Ice Queen smiled brilliantly at him and replied "Thank you so much Potter. If you hadn't been there, I don't know what those guys would have done to me. I owe you a lot".

Harry blushed when she smiled at him.

"It was nothing Greengrass. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Anyone else would have done the same" said Harry modestly waving it off.

"No Potter, anyone else would most probably have just believed that this was none of their business and simply walked away. I have always been skeptical of Gryffindorish bravery and chivalry, but it is only thanks to a true Gryffindor that I am okay now. What can I do to repay you Potter? You deserve a gift for this" said Daphne earnestly.

"It is in my nature to help others Greengrass. I didn't do it for favours" said Harry, but Daphne would have none of it.

"No Potter, I insist. I don't like remaining in anyone's debt. Just tell me what can I do for you, and I will do my best to fulfill your wish" said Daphne a bit more vigourously.

Harry was about to turn down her help again when he thought about his suspictions regarding Malfoy being a deatheater. He had told Ron, Hermione, Professor McGonagall and even Professor Dumbledore regarding his suspictions, but none of them took his words seriously. May be, Daphne could help in this regard.

"Listen, maybe there is something that you could help me with" began Harry cautiously. That peaked Daphne's attention. "It is regarding Malfoy. I feel that he might have replaced his father as a deatheater" stated Harry blandly fully expecting to be scoffed by her.

But to his immense surprise, she was looking at him seriously as she replied "Yes Potter, that is possible. Malfoy seems to be acting quite oddly this year, not at all like his original pompous self. He keeps disappearing from the common room regularly, sometimes for days together. If one observes him, one can see round circles around his eyes. Seems that he is sacrificing his sleep for whatever he is up to. It does seem likely that he is upto something nefarious" said Daphne thoughtfully.

"Thank you Greengrass. So, as I was saying, Malfoy was responsible for that cursed necklace which almost killed Katie Bell. I saw him purchasing that same necklace at Borgin and Burkes. I am afraid that some other innocent life might be endangered by his shenanigans. That is why, I wish that someone would keep a close eye on him and report his movements to me on a weekly basis. You being in the same house as him, it would be a better suited task for you rather than anyone else" remarked Harry, pleased that she seemed to share his suspictions regarding Malfoy.

Daphne thought seriously for a moment before replying "Yes I will do that Potter".

"That's great. So, let us round up these guys and take them to the headmaster's office" said Harry.

Daphne shook her head. "That won't be of any use Potter. First of all, you heard them saying that their wands have been made untraceable by some person in Knockturn alley. So, nobody would be able to prove their wrongdoing. Secondly, these people belong to rich families. So, their parents would be easily able to bribe the ministry authorities and keep them out of trouble. Moreever, even if they are proven guilty, Dumbledore would let them get away with a slap on the wrist by preaching about giving everyone second chances" said Daphne regretfully.

Though Harry didn't like it, he was forced to agree with her, especially the part regarding Dumbledore. He had experienced himself how many second chances the headmaster regularly gave to Snape and Malfoy.

"You are right Greengrass, but these guys can't be just allowed to get away with this. What will stop them from doing this again?" asked Harry.

Daphne just smirked at him and just pointed her wand at Blaise and said "Obliviate". Immediately, Blaise's eyes went unfocused. Harry just stood still, shocked at what he had seen.

"What you just did…" said Harry, feeling shocked.

"Yes, I just wiped out his complete set of memories regarding his time spent at Hogwarts. He has the mind of a 10 year old child now" said Daphne smirking. Then, she proceeded to do the same thing to Bletchley and Pucey. Harry was feeling shocked at her blatant use of memory charm. Suddenly, he felt almost sorry for these 3 boys.

"But, how could you do this Greengrass? Removing their memories just like that?" asked Harry

"Just trust me Potter, it is for the best. I have seen these people jeering and making fun of muggleborns, bullying the younger year students and stuff like that. Now that Malfoy is temporarily out of the way, these idiots had taken over the so called role of leaders of the Slytherin house and were trying to impose their stupid bigoted rules over everyone else. Now that their adult memories have been removed, they would never be able to harm anyone again" said Daphne seriously.

Harry just nodded at her.

"Are you feeling okay now Greengrass? Perhaps it would be better if you went to Madam Pomphrey. I have been exposed to Cruciatus curse and I know how painful it is" said Harry sympathetically.

Daphne smiled at his concern and replied "Don't worry Potter, I will do that"

"Call me Harry. When you call me Potter, it sounds as if you are scolding me" said Harry lightly.

Daphne laughed "Sure Harry, but only if you call me Daphne" Then, suddenly she held out her hand to him "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship Harry" said Daphne smiling brightly at him.

Harry grinned back as he shook her hand "I never thought I would even have a polite conversation with a Slytherin. But here I am, having a great time with you" said Harry.

"And, I never thought that I would ever be thanking a Gryffindor. But here I am, eagerly waiting for the next time that we can meet together" said Daphne winking at him mischieviously.

"I can't believe that people label you as an ice queen. I have never seen a more friendlier person" remarked Harry as both of them began walking towards the castle.

"Harry, in Slytherin house, as a woman, you have only two choices. Either be an open usable playtoy or else, a closed ice hearted bitch. I obviously chose the second option as I don't fancy openly playing with these bigoted perverts" remarked Daphne.

Harry was so shocked on hearing her, his mouth fell open.

Daphne laughed on seeing this. "This is the second time that I have shocked the great chosen one today" she said playfully. Harry just scowled at her remark and said "Prat", making Daphne laugh harder.

"Harry, what I can't believe is that how could Snape be utterly wrong about you. It is quite obvious that you hate your fame. He often complains about your so called arrogance in our common room. Yet, now that I have met you, I can definitely say that there is no one at Hogwarts more humble and modest than you" said Daphne warmly.

He couldn't help it, but her warm appreciation just made him feel at the top of the world for a moment. At that moment, he could have cast a brilliant patronus.

"Thanks Daphne. But what can I say, that man hates me because he hated my father and godfather. No matter, how much I study or perform well in anything, he will never say anything good about me. I will always be a good for nothing freak to him, just like my uncle and aunt always called me" suddenly Harry closed his mouth and looked down in shame, feeling that he had said too much.

Daphne was horrified on hearing Harry's words spoken quite casually. She immediately hugged him without warning. Harry who didn't expect this was stupefied and he patted her back awkwardly. Her hug felt so warm and comfortable. It was neither too tight like Hermione's , nor too forceful like Mrs Weasley's. This one just seemed so natural that he felt himself getting comfortable.

After some time, she withdrew back and Harry was surprised to see tiny tear tracks in her eyes. She looked at him intently and said "Harry, don't ever dare to call yourself a freak. You are not a freak. Those vile people who labeled you as a freak do not know anything about you. They are the freaks, not you. As far as Snape is concerned, he is an unprofessional teacher, who doesn't even know how to teach properly" said Daphne defiantly.

"But I thought you Slytherins liked Snape because he favours you and all…" said Harry confused.

"Yes Harry, Snape simply favours us unconditionally and that is the reason why so many people in our house are getting spoilt. He is not doing his duty as a head of house properly. He is supposed to correct us when we do mistakes, not look away or award us for bullying others. His biased actions have given our house a very bad name and made the reputation of our house even more worse than before. I have no respect for him at all. I don't know why Dumbledore continues to retain him in his staff. It is obvious that there is an ulterior motive behind this" explained Daphne.

"Yes, you are right Daphne" said Harry, and both of them walked in companionable silence till they reached the castle gates.

"Well, let us meet at the 7th floor after 5 days, say on Saturday morning. There is a secret room there, which I will tell you about then. Then, we can discuss about Malfoy" said Harry.

"You are talking about the Room of Requirement right?" asked Daphne smirking at him.

"How do you know?" asked Harry dumbly

"I knew about the room since my first year, when I found it out by accident while running away from some 7th year bullies. That room was my refuge for my first 2 years at Hogwarts. Even now, I sometimes go there to relax when the stupidity of my housemates becomes too much to bear" said Daphne smiling at him.

"That's great Daphne. See you then. Bye" said Harry grinning at her.

She smiled back brightly and began walking in the opposite direction towards the dungeons while Harry walked towards the Gryffindor tower with a definite bounce in his steps. He entered the dormitory with a smile on his face.

As soon as he entered the Gryffindor common room, Hermione accosted him "Harry, where were you? I have been waiting for you for some time. Wait, why are you smiling Harry?" asked Hermione on seeing Harry's goofy grin.

"It was such a lovely evening. Did you see the wonderful sunset near the black lake. That is so beautiful. It indeed was a beautiful evening" said Harry grinning at her.

"That is good Harry. But what are you so happy about? I don't think it is merely about Sunset?" asked Hermione inquisitively.

"I will tell you sometime later maybe. Not now" said Harry evasively, wishing to keep this personal. He didn't think his friends would take it well if he mentioned that he had a friendly conversation with a Slytherin girl.

Harry looked aside to see Ron and Lavender engaged in one of their regular snogging sessions. A few feet far away, Dean and Ginny were doing the same. For the first time, seeing Ginny like this didn't evoke any kind of monster inside him. In fact, he didn't feel anything at all. Meanwhile, Hermione was doing her best to ignore Ron, but Ron's enthusiasm and eagerness while snogging just made that so hard. Eventually, she started shedding few drops of tears.

"Hermione, please look at me" said Harry earnestly.

Hermione looked at him with barely concealed anguish. Sensing that Harry was about to talk to her about Ron, she said.

"Don't Harry. I don't want to talk about him" said Hermione fiercely.

"Hermione, you have avoided me on this subject so far, but I will not budge today. I care for you like you are my own sister, and I don't like seeing you hurt. Had I been hurt, you would have done the same for me right? So, for your brother's sake, please hear me out" said Harry earnestly

Hermione was momentarily stunned on hearing Harry calling her as his own sister.

"You consider me as your own sister?" asked Hermione tearfully, touched by Harry's words.

"Yes Hermione, I have always considered you as my elder sister, the one who keeps Ron and me in line and stops us from doing anything foolish. You are the most intelligent witch that I have ever seen. Without your help, my grades would have suffered. Without your ingenuity, we could never have solved the logic puzzle during our first year, killed the basilisk during our second year, rescued Sirius using the time turner during our third year. Without your help, I might have been roasted by that Hungarian Horntail during the first task. You stood by me when my name was called out of the Goblet of Fire, even when Ron deserted me. You and Ron helped me practice spells for my final task. I will be always grateful to you for all your help over these years. You are my best friend, not Ron, and as a best friend, I just wish that you will never be upset because of Ron again" said Harry sincerely.

Hermione hugged Harry so tightly and Harry patted her softly on her back.

As soon as she released herself from him, Harry remarked "What I wanted to say to you Hermione is that, please don't lose your happiness and mental peace just for the sake of Ron. So what if Ron is not noticing you, it is his loss, not yours. If he is behaving abominably, that is his problem and his fault. Both of you are complete polar opposites of each other. Your personalities are totally incompatible. In case you form a relationship with him, both of you won't be completely happy with it. He will not be satisfied by your studious, rule abiding nature and you would not be happy with his carefree, irresponsible and happy go lucky nature. I am not saying that you should completely avoid his friendship. He can be a great and loyal friend and he has been to me, except for a short period before the first task. I just want the three of us to become the Adventurous Golden trio again and for that, there shouldn't be any awkwardness between the two of you again. You don't have to completely agree with me now Hermione, but please at least think about what I said" said Harry softly.

Hermione just nodded her head. Then suddenly she said.

"Harry, I just wanted to say one thing. I am sorry about how I have reacted to you regarding the half blood prince book. I admit that I was jealous about you performing better than me in potions just like that. That's why I took offence" said Hermione remorsefully.

Harry just smiled back. "Apology accepted Hermione. Hermione, you are better in potions than me, there is no doubt about that. And, I am willing to share the potions recipes of that book with you" said Harry.

"Fine Harry, but please don't just randomly perform any spells from that book on anyone before verifying or testing it properly. Because, that could be dangerous" warned Hermione softly.

Harry agreed to that before calling it a day and going to his dormitory to have a nice sleep.

Before he dozed off, the image of a blue eyed, black haired Slytherin beauty came to his mind. It was a wonderful evening with plenty of adventure, and even a bit of romance. He had made a new friend today, a very unexpected friend.

'But she is a Slytherin' niggled a voice at the back of Harry's head.

'So what, she is a sweet girl. I won't be judgemental upon her based on her house' shot back another stronger voice in his head defiantly.

With a serene smile on his face, Harry fell asleep. That night, he did not have any nightmares.

 **Author's Note: That's the first chapter. Hope everyone likes it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and I don't intend to earn any profit out of it.**

The next day, Harry woke up with a huge smile on his face. He tried to remember what he was so happy about. Then, the events of yesterday evening came to his mind. His penis suddenly became erect as the image of a smiling blond haired, blue eyed Slytherin flashed before him.

"Mate, what are you so happy about?" asked Ron, as he observed the shit-eating grin on Harry's face.

Harry was brought back to reality by Ron's question and his penis deflated back. But that goofy grin never left Harry's face.

"Ron, you have Lavender always sucking you in your mouth and you seem to really enjoy it. I was just imagining someone doing the same for me" said Harry with a dream like smile.

Ron guffawed with laughter.

"Mate, so you finally found someone after Cho, huh? Tell me who is it" remarked Ron with an unusually excited look on his face.

Harry looked shyly down his feet.

"Oh Harry, you are 16 now. Don't be shy. Look at me when I snog Lavender. Do you see a trace of shyness in me? Come on Harry, be a man" said Ron thumping him playfully on his back.

Truthfully speaking, Harry was afraid of Ron's reaction on hearing that Harry fancied a Slytherin girl. Ron was well known for his outspoken hatred against the Slytherin house. But Harry decided to give his first friend the benefit of doubt and replied.

"Ron, it is Daphne Greengrass. I met her yesterday evening. She was being harassed by some boys from her own house and I had to stun them to save her. She was grateful to me for that and we spent some time talking to each other. I found her to be very nice. She even agreed to help me find out whether Malfoy is planning anything nefarious. We agreed to meet again in the Room of Requirement on Saturday morning after 5 days" explained Harry, waiting for Ron's explosive reaction to come.

Ron's face was completely inscrutable as he stared unblinkingly at Harry for 10 seconds. Harry prepared himself for comments like 'She is a stinking slytherin', 'She gave you love potions' and things of such sort and was prepared to counter those arguments fiercely, as he waited in tense anticipation.

After what felt like eternity, a small smile broke out on Ron's face that eventually turned into a full blown laughter. Now, Harry was the one staring unblinkingly at Ron. Whatever reaction that he had expected from Ron, this certainly wasn't one.

"Harry, you lucky young man, you have no idea how lucky you are" said Ron laughing at him.

"What?" asked Harry bewildered, unable to process what Ron had just said to him.

"Now, just wait a minute Harry. I will make you understand" replied Ron before he dove into his bag and pulled out a book titled "12 fail safe way to charm witches".

"Harry, rescuing a damsel in distress is one of the best fool-proof ways to charm witches. It is mentioned clearly in this book. That is why I said you were lucky" said Ron grinning at Harry.

"But Ron, do you have no problem that it is a Slytherin whom I am fancying? I expected you to rant about stinking slytherins or accuse her of feeding me love potions" said Harry in a confused voice.

In reply, Ron sighed deeply and said "Harry, do you think that I am prejudiced git as Malfoy? Only Malfoy and the gits that agree with his bigoted views are the ones who stink, I don't have a problem with the rest of them. I remember that there were quite a number of Slytherins who didn't wear the "Weasley is our King" badges last year. And mate, you are capable of resisting You-Know-Who's imperius. So, what can ordinary love potions do to you?" asked Ron rheoterically as he smiled at Harry.

Harry didn't say anything for a few moments. But suddenly, he hugged Ron fiercely and Ron returned the hug back.

"Thank you brother" said Harry emotionally before asking "Ron, since when you become so mature? And, where did you get this book?"

"Actually, Bill gave it to me during Christmas. He used this to woo Fleur" said Ron.

"Can I borrow this?" asked Harry eagerly.

"Sorry Harry, Bill has placed runes on this book in such a way that this book will open only to a Weasley male. Only when Bill modifies the runes for you will you be able to read it. But anyway Harry, you won't need the book at all. This book is especially meant for idiotic males who don't know how to speak to girls and I am sorry to say that I was one of them. If I had this book earlier, I wouldn't have screwed up so badly with Hermione" said Ron regretfully with a bit of shame.

Harry looked sadly at Ron before replying "Ron, I spoke with Hermione yesterday"

Ron looked up morosely and said "She must be very angry with me, right?"

Harry sighed before replying "Yes Ron, I won't deny that. But she was also missing your presence. She started crying badly when she saw you openly snogging Lavender and I had to comfort her. Ron, don't feel bad when I say this, but most of it was your fault. You were so rude to everyone and especially to her before our first quidditch match this year, you were very harsh with her regarding her friendship with Krum. What do you think she feels when you copy her homework without showing any gratitude to her?

And Ron, I am happy that you are happy with Lavender, but openly snogging someone in front of everyone is shamelessness and that makes everyone in the vicinity uncomfortable. That is why, most of the couples go to broom closets Ron. I admit that Hermione snogging Krum might have hurt your feelings, but snapping at Hermione for that and taking revenge on her by openly snogging Lavender in the common room will not make things better.

In my opinion Ron, you and Hermione are completely polar opposites of each other. You are fun loving and she is studious. So, a relationship between both of you is less likely to work out in the long run. But even if there is no romantic interest between the two of you, it is undeniable that Hermione is our friend and she has helped both of us a lot in the past. I really miss the adventures that the three of us had together. I want the three of us to become the Golden Gryffindor trio again. And for that, I request you Ron, to please apologize to Hermione" said Harry sincerely.

Ron looked down at his feet in shame and mumbled "You are right Harry. Even the book said almost the same things. But I am afraid that she will send those birds at me again"

"Ron, I assure you that it won't happen. I will cast a shield before you if it does so happen. Now, please be a man and do the right thing" said Harry.

Ron nodded and both of them walked towards the common room intending to meet Hermione.

After finishing their morning duties, Harry and Ron found Hermione sitting in the sofa near the fireplace in the common room. As soon as she saw Ron along with Harry, she turned away. But Harry called out to her.

"Hermione, Ron has something very important to say to you" said Harry.

Hermione's first instinct was to refuse to even listen to Ron but Harry always had her best interests at heart and he would never let her down.

"Okay, what is it?" asked Hermione in a tense voice.

Ron gulped, before clearing his throat and said "Hermione, I have been a big prat to you this year. You have done nothing to deserve my scorn and contempt. You have always helped me out in doing homework and academics and what did I do? I hurt your feelings very badly. Hermione, you can be friendly with any boy that you want, even Krum. I will not hold that against you. I just want you to be very happy. I just never want you to shed tears again. Please forgive me Hermione. I just want to be your friend again" said Ron, before holding out his hand for her to shake.

The people in the common room were astounded on hearing Ron's words. They never thought Ron would publicily apologize to someone else. Ginny, in particular, was proud of her brother. She was happy that he was acting very maturely for once.

Everyone waited in tense anticipation for Hermione's response. Hermione stared scrutinizingly at Ron for a few seconds while Ron fidgeted with his hands.

Then, suddenly without warning, she hugged Ron fiercely much to the surprise of Ron. Ron returned the hug back. Harry gave an inner dance of joy on seeing the reconciliation of his 2 friends and he too joined the hug making it a three way hug. There were a few claps from their fellow Gryffindors and finally the three of them parted from the hug.

Hermione, who looked much happier now said happily "Let us go to breakfast"

On the way to breakfast, Harry told Hermione about Daphne. To Harry's immense relief, Hermione too didn't object to Harry's friendship with Daphne.

"I have done a group project with Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Dravis in Arithmancy during my fourth year. I found both of them to be likeable and very good students. And, they did not wear those badges. You have chosen well Harry. She is definitely a better choice than Cho, in case you want to make her your girl friend" said Hermione smiling warmly at him.

Finally, they sat down for breakfast. Harry opened the daily prophet in front of him, and saw the regular news of destruction brought upon the wizarding and muggle worlds by Voldemort and his deatheaters. He grit his teeth in anger. Something had to be done about Voldemort. What the hell was the ministry doing about this? Anyway, as long as people like Umbridge and Fudge worked in the ministry, no real help could be expected from the ministry. Harry hoped that at least Dumbledore and the order were doing something about it. But that too was uncertain, because even though they were better than the ministry, Harry found Dumbledore's approach to be too soft. Even last year, Voldemort had mocked Dumbledore that Dumbledore was not even trying to kill him. This year, murder attempt on Katie Bell had already happened and Harry had mentioned about his suspictions about Draco Malfoy to Dumbledore, but the headmaster didn't seem to be taking the issue with the required amount of seriousness. Moreever, Dumbledore's blind trust in Snape was totally ridiculous.

Harry was brought out of his musings by somebody tapping him from behind.

Harry looked behind to see Daphne who was smiling at him brightly. There was another girl also with Daphne and she too smiled at Harry.

"Good morning Harry" Daphne said.

Harry smiled in return.

"Ooh, it is Harry. You too are already close huh?" teased Tracey, to which Daphne blushed and nudged Tracey's elbows in irritation.

"Good morning Daphne" returned Harry and he gave a small nod to the other girl too as he made space for both of them to sit beside him.

The other Gryffindors were staring slack jawed at the two Slytherin girls who had dared to sit at the Gryffindor table. Many of them had heard about Daphne's fierce reputation as the Ice Queen of Slytherin and a few of them started inching away from their seats leaving a wide berth for Daphne.

Even the professors and the people from the other three houses were watching this unusual scene open-mouthed. The Slytherins in particular were glaring fiercely at Daphne and Tracey for daring to betray their house like that.

Then, Tracey turned to Harry and spoke seriously "I wanted to thank you for saving Daphne yesterday. She is my best friend and is as good to me as my own sister. I owe you a debt for this"

In reply, Harry smiled warmly and replied "I was only too happy to help. You don't owe me anything. No woman deserves to be taken advantage of and harassed in such a manner. I did what any decent person should have done in that situation" replied Harry.

"No Harry, what you did was something really extraordinary. I will never forget your help. It is your humility that is making you say this" said Daphne smiling warmly at him.

Harry replied "If both of you really want to repay me for my help, then all that I want is your friendship. I am really tired of all this Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. It is finally time that we build a bridge between both our houses. Don't you agree?" asked Harry playfully.

While Tracey started slack-jawed at Harry, Daphne laughed and told Tracey "See Tracey, didn't I tell you that he won't accept any payment. I won the bet. So, you have to pay me up" and then turned to Harry "Tracey was almost expecting that you might ask for even a betrothal contract in return for saving my honour" Daphne explained.

"What? I will never do that" Harry almost shouted in a shocked voice.

"Harry, this seems very shocking to you Gryffindors, but it is usually the norm in Slytherin. Backstabbing, Exchange of unpleasant sexual favours, marriage contracts, calling of debts, etc are so common in the viper pit. That is why, I am so happy that an idiotic, chivalrous Gryffindor saved me yesterday" said Daphne smiling miscieviously at him.

Harry just smiled and nodded back, not knowing what to say.

Their pleasant moment was interrupted when Cormac McLaggen shouted "What the hell are two stinking Snakes doing in our table?" Some Gryffindors nodded at McLaggen's question.

Harry's expression darkened and so did Daphne's, Ron's and Hermione's.

"May be we should go back…" Tracey started saying, but Hermione held her back.

"No Davis, you can sit here if you want. He has no right to order you away" Hermione said before turning back to McLaggen.

"And McLaggen, except for the Halloween feast, the opening feast and the leaving feast, the students can sit in any house table that they prefer. It is given in the Hogwarts charter" said Hermione emphatically.

"And Miss Granger is absolutely right Mr McLaggen" chimed in Dumbledore, from the head table.

"I award 25 points each to Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis for displaying inter house unity in these troubled times. 10 points from McLaggen for usage of improper language in addressing Slytherin house members and 10 points to Hermione Granger for properly quoting the Hogwarts charter. Have a great day" smiled Dumbledore genially.

McLaggen gritted his teeth but sat down not wanting to embarrass himself further.

"Thanks a lot Granger" chorused Daphne and Tracey.

"Anytime" said Hermione smiling.

"It is nice to meet both of you" said Ron warmly.

"Thanks Weasley" said Daphne surprised by Weasley's behavior. She had expected him to be the most vocal against their presence here.

"Potter, I and Daphne would be glad to be your friend" said Tracey smiling at the three Gryffindors who returned the smile.


End file.
